Tulsa's Skylar Diggins Named 2014 Most Improved Player Presented by Samsung

Official Release

NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2014 – Tulsa Shock guard Skylar Diggins is the winner of the 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year presented by Samsung, the WNBA announced today. Diggins received 29 of 38 votes from a panel of national and local sportswriters and broadcasters.

This year marks the first season that Samsung, an official WNBA marketing partner, is serving as the presenting partner of the WNBA’s highest individual honors. The WNBA Most Improved Player, WNBA Most Valuable Player, WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year, WNBA Rookie of the Year, and the WNBA Players of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards are a part of the WNBA Performance Awards presented by Samsung program.

Diggins more than doubled her scoring average in 2014 (20.1 ppg) from 2013 (8.5 ppg), and also improved in terms of assists (5.0 apg, up from 3.8 apg in 2013) and rebounds (2.5 rpg, up from 1.9 rpg). Diggins lifted her field goal percentage from .328 a year ago to .423 this season (232-of-548) and raised her three-point shooting accuracy from .244 as a rookie to .282 (33-of-117) in 2014.

Your browser does not support iframes.

In her second season in the league, Diggins, the No. 3 overall draft pick in 2013, started all 34 games for the Shock and led Tulsa in scoring, assists, steals (1.5 spg) and minutes (35.1 mpg). Among all WNBA players, Diggins led the league in minutes, placed second in scoring and ranked fourth in assists.

In honor of being named the WNBA Most Improved Player presented by Samsung, Diggins will receive $5,000 and a specially designed trophy.

Below are the voting results of the 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player presented by Samsung, and a list of past recipients:

Video

Last week, Lauren Hill of Mount St. Joseph University courageously took the floor for her first college game, refusing to let an inoperable brain tumor keep her from achieving her dream – and WNBA stars Elena Delle Donne and Tamika Catchings were on hand to lend their support.